The Physicist and The Physician
by Vattenmelon
Summary: A collection of short McKeller fics. Expect romance, humour, friendship, and a bit of everything.
1. Excuses

**A/N: This will be collection of short, unrelated stories about Rodney/Jennifer, so expect more chapters in the following days. Not all of the stories will necessarily be romance, they'll also be humour (and lots of it), friendship, maybe a bit of angst (not too much of it... not too big a fan of it), some more humour and some other stuff. So keep an eye out! Oh, and check out my other McKeller story, **_**Finding Out**_**. Enjoy!**

'I am so sorry,' Rodney said as the door slid open to reveal a very angry Jennifer.

'Three hours, Rodney,' she said, angrily pointing at her watch to make the point more obvious than it already was, not that that would be necessary.

'Jennifer, I am so, so, so sorry,' Rodney said. Jennifer sighed and tilted her head ever so slightly. 'I should hate you,' she began.

'And you're well within your right to do so,' Rodney cut in, 'but I was working, and Zelenka had messed up the experiment, as always. I always get stuck doing his dirty work! And I was there, and I had to take of my watch and I had programmed my tablet to set of an alarm but it ran out of batteries,' Rodney rambled on faster than a supercharged railgun. 'And it was really fascinating and I forgot all about you, and… not to say that I think work is more fascinating than you are, and… wait, that didn't come out right. What I meant to say was that I find,' he continued, but Jennifer cut in. 'But I can't,' she said.

'You can't what? Oh, you can't forgive me, right. Well, I suppose I deserved that. I haven't exactly been the best of boyfriends, but you gotta understand that it's a lot of responsibility running the science department here, not, of course, that you're not important. I mean, you're pretty damn important,' Rodney rambled on, now faster than a ZPM-powered Daedulus-class ship flying through hyperspace.

'Rodney,' Jennifer said, but Rodney continued his mad ramblings. 'It's just that when you have the lives of people in your hands, it's hard to… wait, that makes no sense, you're the CMO, you have the lives of people…'

'Rodney!' Jennifer said a little more forcefully this time.

'Which is quite fascinating, and kind sexy… wait, that sounded wrong,' Rodney said.

'RODNEY!' Jennifer practically screamed. Rodney looked at her as if he had just now realised that she was, in fact, there, right in front of him. 'Yes?' he said, felling off-guard.

'But I can't,' Jennifer said. Rodney looked at her in confusion. 'You can't what?' he asked.

'I can't be mad at you.'

'What?' Rodney asked, even more confused. Jennifer gave a small laugh, and smiled at Rodney. 'You're cute when you ramble, you know.' Rodney just stared at her, confusion written all over his face. Jennifer smiled again. 'I should be mad at you, but I can't. You're too cute, and I like you too much,' she said.

'Oh…' Rodney said, just realising what was going on.

'Mmm. But next time, you better be on time, or else I'm gonna crack out the big needles during your next check-up,' Jennifer said, as she leaned in to kiss Rodney, who gulped. 'Big… needles…?'

'Mhm.'

'I'll be five minutes early.'


	2. Close to Death

'What happened to you?' Jennifer asked Rodney.

'What does it look like!' Rodney shouted back. 'The thing blew up in my face!'

'OK, calm down. Let me have a look,' Jennifer said, as she took a closer look at Rodney's arm, which Rodney was protectively holding. 'Don't worry,' she said.

'Don't worry?! My arm is covered in blood, and you tell me not to worry?' Rodney shouted back.

'Rodney!' Jennifer snapped at him.

'What?' Rodney shouted back.

'It's nothing to worry about,' Jennifer said, as she move to get some supplies from the cupboard.

'Nothing to worry about? My arm is COVERED IN BLOOD!'

'Rodney!' Jennifer snapped at him again. 'You're not going to die, and I'd hardly call that covered in blood.'

'Well I was damn lucky I didn't! That thing could've killed me!'

'Well, it didn't,' Jennifer said as she poured alcohol on the wound.

'OW!!!' Rodney said and instinctively pulled back his arm.

'Rodney, I need to disinfect the wound,' Jennifer said, as she grabbed Rodney's arm.

'You need to disinfect the wound?!? I almost died from another stupid piece of Ancient rubbish and you have to disinfect the wound? I almost got killed, and you have to disinfect the wound? I'm in danger of losing my life and you have to disinfect my wound and then what? Put a Band-Aid on it? I'm this close to death!' Rodney shouted as he showed with his hand just how close to death he had come. Jennifer rolled her eyes. 'You're not close to death, Rodney,' she said.

'The hell I'm not!'

'Rodney, it's just a minor flesh wound. Now let me disinfect it and bandage it. Don't worry, you're not close to death. People have gotten worse wounds than this going to the bathroom,' Jennifer, ripping Rodney's arm away from his protective grasp. 'What's up with you anyways? You seem unusually tense.'

'Maybe because I ALMOST DIED?!?' Rodney screamed, and started to hyperventilate.

'Rodney, believe me, you're fine. You're going to be alright,' Jennifer said as she finished bandaging the wound. Rodney sat on the hospital bed with his eyes closed, breathing heavily. 'I'm sorry, Jennifer,' he began. 'It's just… I… we have our first date tonight and I…' Rodney stopped.

'Yes…?'

'Yes, well, um… and, well, as I said, we had… uh, have, our first date tonight and then I almost get myself killed and I feel really stupid and I'm… stupid.'

'Accidents happen. You're not stupid, Rodney,' Jennifer said, and Rodney let out a sarcastic grin.

'I blame the Ancients,' Rodney said.

'Yes, do that. You can go now, and don't try to weasel out of a date again by getting yourself injured,' Jennifer said as she walked towards her office.

'What? Oh, no, I didn't… I mean, you don't think I? Oh, believe me, I wouldn't be brave enough to do that… well, weasel out perhaps, but not blowing myself up… almost. I mean, I'd, um… not to say, you know, I'd… um… what?' Rodney said, as he walked after Jennifer, desperation in his voice.

'I'm joking Rodney. 1900,' Jennifer said as she turned around and gave Rodney a kiss. She turned on her heels and walked into her office, closing the door behind her, leaving a very confused Rodney staring that the door.

'What?'


	3. Observing

It had been another long day for Jennifer, and it was only now, late at night, that she had time to grab supper. A really, really late supper. As expected, the mess hall was all but deserted, with only one other person in there, who, to Jennifer's delight, turned out to be Rodney, engrossed, as usual, in his tablet. As Jennifer sat down in front of Rodney, he didn't even look up at her. Jennifer was about to say something, when she decided against it. _This could be fun_, she thought.

'Hmm…' Rodney said at something on his tablet, press a button, and absentmindedly shovelled a piece of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Jennifer smiled, but kept her mouth closed, eating in silence. The same procedure continued for some 25 minutes: Rodney would 'hm', press a button or two, and absentmindedly eat, totally unaware of his company.

'Hm,' he said once again, and put down his tablet. He lifted his head, only to freeze, his fork, full of mashed potatoes, halfway to his mouth. Silence ensued.

'Interesting?' Jennifer finally said, motioning to the tablet.

'How long have you been sitting there?' Rodney asked.

'Half an hour,' Jennifer said.

'What?' Rodney asked.

'You're cute when you're distracted,' Jennifer said, as Rodney was just about to swallow his mashed potatoes, causing him to nearly choke. Jennifer laughed.

'That's not funny,' Rodney said, and Jennifer tried to constrain her laughter, without much success. After she had stopped laughing, and Rodney had stopped glaring at her, she asked 'Do you wanna go for a walk?'

'Um…' Rodney said, thrown. Jennifer looked at him with a _Go on_-look. 'Well, I, um… got… things to, um… sure, why not,' he said.


	4. Courage

Rodney pulled down on his shirt in order to straighten it out, took a deep breath and raise his arm to knock on the door, but hesitated. _Oh come on! I can do this_, he thought to himself. _It's really simple!_ He raised his hand, but again hesitated. _Oh come ON! Just knock already_ he shouted to himself in his head. _Right. 'Hi, do you want to have dinner with me?' Simple! Courage, Rodney, courage_. He took several deep breaths, and built up all his courage. He brought up his hand once again, but before he could knock, door slid open, catching Rodney off-guard in the worst sense.

'Rodney,' Jennifer said. Rodney was silent. Jennifer looked at his questioningly. 'Is everythi…'

'No, of course I haven't been standing out here for long,' Rodney blurted out, before Jennifer could ask if everything was alright, and before Rodney's brain could comprehend anything.

'OK…,' Jennifer said, confused. There was more silence. Rodney realised his arm was still held up in a getting-ready-to-knock position, and he quickly pulled it down. 'Hi,' he said meekly.

'Uh hu…' Jennifer said. 'Was there anything you wanted?' she asked.

'Nope,' Rodney blurted out instantly. _Shit_.

'OK…' Jennifer began, 'well, in that case, I'm gonna go have dinner. Care to join me?'

'Nope,' Rodney blurted out, once again, instantly. _Double shit_.

'Right…' Jennifer said, as she walked past Rodney. 'Wait!' Rodney said.

'Yes?' Jennifer said, turning around to face Rodney. Rodney took a deep breath, and, word for word, recited the speech he had been working on for the better part of the day. 'Hi, I was just on my way to go grab some dinner. Do you wish to join me?' he said, before realising his mistake(s).

'Nice speech. Worked on it for long?' Jennifer said, smiling.

'Uh…' Rodney said. Jennifer smiled. 'Come on,' she said, motioning for Rodney to come along.

'Um…' Rodney said.

'This way,' Jennifer said, pointing in the general direction of the mess hall.

'Oh, right…'


	5. Robinson Crusoe

Jennifer sat down next to Rodney and gave him a quizzical frown as he looked up. 'What are you doing?' she asked.

'Um, reading,' Rodney said, waving the book in his hand.

'Yes, I can see that. Since when do you read?' she asked.

'Uh, hello, I'm a genius, of course I can read,' Rodney said, confused.

'Yeah, I know that, but since when do you get time to read…' Jennifer began, and lowered her head to see the title of the book, 'Robinson Crusoe,' she said, as she lifted her head, amazed, 'for fun?'

'It's a good book!' Rodney retorted, sounding almost offended.

'Yeah, I know that, it' just… I've never seen you read a book before,' Jennifer said, her frown widening.

'Is there something wrong with me reading a book?' Rodney asked.

'No, not at all. I just never saw you as the book reading person,' Jennifer said, and Rodney raised his eyebrows in response. 'Um… thanks?' he said. Jennifer gave out a short laughter. 'I didn't mean it like that, Rodney,' she said.

'Right, well, I fail to see the hilarity of it all,' Rodney said with fake indignation.

'Uh-huh,' Jennifer said. 'Anyway, come on inside, your sister's finished making dinner.'

'Oh, great, tofu chicken?' Rodney said, and Jennifer laughed. 'Hey, at least you don't have to hunt food, like ol' Robby there,' she said, pointing to the book.

'Ol' Robby?' Rodney asked, laughing.

'Whatever,' Jennifer said as she gave Rodney a quick kiss before they went inside.


	6. Red, Red, Red!

**A/N: It's only been over two months since I last updated! It's not really all _that_ long once you think about it...**

'Jennifer? Jennifer?' Rodney said, as he waved his hand in front of Jennifer's eyes, which were staring past him, into the wall.

'Jennifer?'

'Yes?' Jennifer said as she came about, and looked at Rodney with a confused look.

'Are you OK?' he asked.

'Yeah…' she said. 'I was just thinking about an old friend from high school. He had very pretty hair,' she said, pausing. 'Then he tried to hold up gas station, but when he shoved the gun in this pants he forgot to engage the safety. It wasn't as bad as it sounds however,' she said. Rodney stared at her, confused. 'What?' he said.

'Nathaniel, that was his name,' Jennifer continued, noticeably absent-minded. 'Nathaniel Johnson. Nice guy. Well, till he turned criminal. Haven't spoken to him in ages.'

'Jennifer, you sound delirious. Want me to get a nurse or a doctor?' Rodney asked, with concern in his voice.

'No no, I'm fine, really,' Jennifer said, taking Rodney's hand, which was resting on the side of the bed in the infirmary. 'Thank you, Rodney, thank you for staying with me.'

'Well, they were shooting at me as well! It's not like I had much of a choice, really…' Rodney began, but was cut of by the increasing pressure in his hand, as Jennifer squeezed it as hard as she could. Rodney looked at her, and continued: 'Not that I'd run away from you shot in the first place. No no, that's not what I'm saying. What I mean is, that since… um…' He wasn't quite sure what to say next.

'I love you, Rodney,' Jennifer said. Rodney smiled.

'I love you too,' he said as he leaned over to kiss Jennifer, making sure not to touch her wounded shoulder.


	7. Late and Missing

Rodney looked at his clock for the gazillionth time. _It's not like Jennifer to be half an hour late. Where is she?_ He touched his earpiece, and tried calling her. No answer. _Hm._ 'Chuck, where's Dr Keller?' he asked.  
'Sorry Dr McKay, I don't know. She's got today off,' Chuck replied.  
'Yeah, I know… has anyone seen her today?' Rodney asked back.  
'I don't know, I'll ask around,' Chuck replied.  
'OK,' Rodney answered. _Hm._ He knocked on Jennifer's door, but got no answer.  
'Jennifer,' he tried, even thought the doors were soundproof.  
'Dr McKay, it's Chuck. No one seems to have seen Dr Keller all day. Have you tried paging her?'  
'Obviously! No one?'  
'Afraid not.'  
'OK…' _Damn. Where could she be? She said 1930 sharp at her quarters. She's always on time. Always. Where the heck could she be?_

_Oh, screw it. No one knows where she is; this can't hurt, can it?_ Rodney thought as he unhinged a control panel to Jennifer's door and started fiddling around. A few seconds later the doors slid apart. 'Jennifer?' Rodney asked, as he carefully walked into the room. He got no answer.  
'Jennifer?' he tried again. The room was in a mess. _That's not like her. Wait a second…_ Rodney thought, as he heard a sound coming from the bathroom. _Oh. Oh, shi…  
_'Ahhhh! Rodney, what the? What are you doing in here?' Jennifer shouted as she stepped out of the bathroom, wearing not much, and finding Rodney trying to sneak out of her room.  
'Oh, um, uh…' Rodney said, his eyes stuck to the half-naked Jennifer in front of him.  
'Give me a second, will you?' Jennifer said.  
'Sure,' Rodney said, not moving.  
'Turn around!' Jennifer said, as she covered up. 'There. Now, what are you doing here?'  
'Well, um… uh… you didn't answer your radio, so…' Rodney said.  
'So you broke into my room?' Jennifer asked.  
'Yes. Well, no. I mean… I wasn't sneaking around,' Rodney stumbled over his words.  
'Uh hu…'  
'I mean, it was just, that, um… no one had heard from you all day, and you were late, and, um…' Rodney trailed off.  
'And…?' Jennifer prompted.  
'And… I was worried,' Rodney said, and looked away, blushing. Jennifer tilted her head, and looked at Rodney. After a few seconds, she cracked a smile. 'All I did was oversleep. By a lot.' Jennifer said. 'But thanks.'  
'Um…. you're welcome? You're not mad?' Rodney asked.  
'Of course I am! But I think you can make it up to me,' Jennifer said, taking a step closer, and grabbing Rodney, kissing him.  
'I'm really sorry, Jennifer,' Rodney said, pulling away from the kiss.  
'Oh, shut up and kiss me, Rodney!'


	8. Coq au whatnow?

_OK McKay, it can't be that difficult! You've made coq au vin many times before! A few of them successfully… mind you, those times I actually had a_ chicken_! More to the point, how could the commissary have run out of chicken? It's like a week until we next get a shipment from Earth. Oh well, I guess Jennifer will have to be content with I-assure-you-that-this-thing-from-some-random-planet-tastes-just-like-chicken-and-yes-it's-safe-to-eat au vin. What does the head chef of Atlantis know anyway? OK, stop rambling, focus, McKay!_

Jennifer chimed the door, and heard the muffled sound of Rodey's leg connecting with the table. 'Shit! I mean, one second!' he shouted. Jennifer couldn't help but smile.  
'Hi,' Rodney said, still clutching his leg.  
'Hiya. Are you OK?' Jennifer asked.  
'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Come in, come in.'  
'Thank you,' Jennifer said, stepping into Rodney's quarters. 'Oh wow,' she said, as she saw the laid-out table. 'You didn't have to do all this,' she said, turning to Rodney smiling.  
'Didn't have to, but did anyway,' he replied, pulling the chair from the table. 'Sit down.'  
'Why thank you. So kind… so… unlike you,' Jennifer said teasingly.  
'Ha ha, very funny,' Rodney mocked offence.  
Jennifer smiled. 'Mmm, that smells lovely,' she said. 'What is it.'  
'Coq au vin... sort of,' Rodney replied.  
'Sort of?' Jennifer asked.  
'Yeah, the kitchen had run out of chicken, so the chef gave me… something else.'  
'Something else?'  
'Yeah, it's… something.'  
'Uh hu…' Jennifer replied, sounding a bit dubious.  
'He assures me it tastes just like chicken.'  
'OK, well…'  
'Mmmm…. glass of wine?' Rodney asked.  
'Please,' Jennifer said, as Rodney pour her some wine. 'So, what exactly is it that we're having?'  
'You don't trust me?' Rodney asked.  
'Well, I do, but…'  
'But…?'  
'It's not from Earth, is it?' Jennifer asked.  
'No.'  
'Right…'  
'I'm sorry, I don't know how it's going to taste, Rodney replied.  
'Well, what the heck, lets give it a try, eh?' Jennifer said, sounding cheerful. Rodney nodded and began serving the food, and sat down himself. 'Good luck,' he said, to which Jennifer laughed.  
'Well, here it goes,' she said.  
Rodney swallowed the lump in his throat. _Please don't let her die_, he pleaded with himself. Jennifer cautiously sipped a bit of the sauce, before taking a piece of the meat. She swallowed, and said nothing. _Oh, crap_, Rodney thought to himself. _Oh crap_.  
'Oh my God,' Jennifer said.  
'I'm so sorry,' Rodney began. 'It was a stupid idea. I'm sorry you hate it. Damn chef told me it tasted like chicken! Probably gives you allergies and indigestion and…'  
'Rodney, this is fantastic,' Jennifer cut him off.  
'It is?'  
'Yes!'  
'Oh,' Rodney said, trying a piece for himself. 'Oh wow…'  
'Don't get cocky, McKay,' Jennifer laughed.  
'Funny…'

'Thank you Rodney, for a lovely dinner,' Jennifer said, as she stood just outside Rodney's door.  
'You're welcome,' Rodney replied. 'I'm glad you liked it.'  
'Oh, it was delicious,' Jennifer said, leaning in for a kiss. 'Second only to that,' she said as they pulled apart. 'Good night,' she said, giving Rodney a huge grin and walked away.

_I have got to remember to thank the chef_, Rodney thought to himself.


End file.
